Demonstrate with at least two examples how your newly acquired knowledge and skills have shaped both your personal and professional development.

Discussion 4 and 5

Reflect: Think about the core competencies as previously mentioned, and ponder your time taking general education courses. Reflect on the specific courses not associated with your college major and determine the level of new information you have acquired that relates to the core competencies. You must also think about a potential job you might apply to once you graduate and determine what skills you developed through general education courses that make you qualified for a specific job.Reflect: Think about the core competencies as previously mentioned, and ponder your time taking general education courses. Reflect on the specific courses not associated with your college major and determine the level of new information you have acquired that relates to the core competencies. You must also think about a potential job you might apply to once you graduate and determine what skills you developed through general education courses that make you qualified for a specific job.Part 1

Prepare: In preparation for discussing the importance of critical thinking skills, please read the following articles: Critical Thinking and the Challenges of Internet (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. and Common Misconceptions of Critical Thinking. You may also read other applicable sources found under the Week 4 Resources tab to gain a better understanding of what it takes to be a critical thinker.Reflect: Reflect on the characteristics of a critical thinker. Critical thinking gets you involved in a dialogue with the ideas you read from others in this class. To be a critical thinker, you need to be able to summarize, analyze, hypothesize, and evaluate new information that you encounter.

Write: For this discussion, you will address the following prompts. Keep in mind that the article or video you’ve chosen should not be about critical thinking, but should be about someone making a statement, claim, or argument related to your Final Paper topic. One source should demonstrate good critical thinking skills and the other source should demonstrate the lack or absence of critical thinking skills. Personal examples should not be used.

Explain at least five elements of critical thinking that you found in the reading material.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which good critical thinking skills are being demonstrated by the author or speaker. Summarize the content, and explain why you think it demonstrates good critical thinking skills.

Search the Internet, media, or the Ashford University Library, and find an example in which the author or speaker lacks good critical thinking skills. Summarize the content, and explain why you think it demonstrates the absence of good, critical thinking skills.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference entries of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations

PART 2

Prepare: Start by reviewing General Education Curriculum found in General Academic Information and Policies (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site. in the Ashford University Catalog, which addresses the core competencies that the general education courses must cover: Applied Ethics, Communication, Information Technology, Critical Thinking, and Quantitative Reasoning. Review Week 5 Resources that are applicable toward career success.

Reflect: Think about the core competencies as previously mentioned, and ponder your time taking general education courses. Reflect on the specific courses not associated with your college major and determine the level of new information you have acquired that relates to the core competencies. You must also think about a potential job you might apply to once you graduate and determine what skills you developed through general education courses that make you qualified for a specific job.

Write: For this discussion, you will address the following prompts:

Review a job description through a job website (e.g., Career Builder (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., Monster (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site., etc.) in your desired career field. Please provide the job title and the link to the job description.

Identify at least five skills you have obtained through your general education courses that will make you successful at this job.

Demonstrate with at least two examples how your newly acquired knowledge and skills have shaped both your personal and professional development.

Describe your plans for putting your education to use within your community.

Your initial post should be at least 250 words in length, which should include a thorough response to each prompt. You are required to provide in-text citations of applicable required reading materials and/or any other outside sources you use to support your claims. Provide full reference entries of all sources cited at the end of your response. Please use correct APA format when writing in-text citations